Father's Day
by merlucadevotion
Summary: A one shot in which Steve spends his first Father's Day with DJ and the boys.


Loss was certainly not a foreign concept to DJ and unfortunately, as much as DJ never wanted her boys to know this type of pain, it was a concept they also knew far too well. First she had lost her mother at the tender age of ten years old and just three years ago she lost her husband, the father of her children.

Ever since the tragic passing of Tommy Fuller Sr., Father's Day, once cherished by DJ herself, had become a rather bittersweet occasion for the Tanner-Fuller family. Sure, she still had dinner with her Dad, Uncle Jesse, and Joey if he could make it, every Father's Day since she graduated high school, but there was still this feeling of bittersweet emptiness that she simply couldn't shake.

This was proven to be true as DJ and Steve along with her three boys quietly walked out of church on that Sunday afternoon. DJ held Tommy on her hip, Steve close by her side, as Jackson and Max followed closely behind.

The silence on the way to the car was broken by Max speaking up. "Mom, are we gonna visit Dad today?" He asked softly.

"Of course we are, sweetie." replied DJ, giving the boy an affectionate sweep to his brown locks of hair.

At the car, DJ buckled Tommy into his car seat before hopping into the driver's seat.

She buckled her seatbelt then looked to Steve and in the rear view mirror at her boys. "Everyone buckled in?"

"Yep" they all said in unison.

As she drove, they stopped at a redlight and DJ found herself in a bit of a daze. This day was never easy on her, but she had to stay strong for her sons.

Suddenly she felt a familiar, comforting hand on hers. "You okay, sweetheart?" Steve asked her.

DJ nodded, taking a deep breath as the light turned green and she continued to drive. "I'm okay."

Steve didn't press the issue, instead giving her hand a gentle squeeze to say "I'm here. Always."

The family eventually pulled up at the cemetery where Tommy Sr. was buried.

"I can stay in the car if you want.." offered Steve.

DJ shook her head and took his hand into hers. "Absolutely not. You're a part of this family now too."

Steve simply nodded with a small smile. DJ then stepped out of the car and went around to the back to retrieve the flowers she had brought from her garden at home.

Jackson and Max got out of the car while Steve took Tommy out of his car seat.

The walk to the burial plot was just as quiet as the car ride had been. Soon, they arrived at the headstone. It was a marvel stone adorned with a portrait of Tommy Sr. in his uniform as well as symbols that honored his time served as a firefighter. It read "Thomas Ryan Fuller. Devoted husband, father, and hero." with a bible verse below that read "Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you are called. 1 Timothy 6:12"

DJ took out the old flowers from their last visit and replaced them with the fresh ones.

Steve took a quick glance at the boys, Max had a look of somber while Jackson's face was a bit hard to read at the moment, stoic would an accurate description.

Tommy looked around curiously as he chewed on his fingers, unaware of what was going on at the tender age of two and a half years old.

DJ stared at the headstone for a moment, closing her eyes briefly before speaking. Steve and the boys stood nearby. "Hi Tommy. It's us. We just wanted wish you a happy father's day and let you know how much we love and miss you."

There was a lingering silence and DJ used that opportunity to hand her youngest son a single rose. "Here you go baby boy. You wanna put one down like mommy did?"

The youngest Fuller shook his head, then toddled over and placed the rose near the grave of the father he sadly never knew.

"That's Tommy Jr. Your youngest little boy who's growing into quite the big boy. I wish you could see his little mannerisms sometimes, it reminds me so much of you." DJ managed a smile and slight chuckle.

DJ looked to Jackson and Max. "Would you boys like to say anything?"

Jackson shook his head no. Max, however, moved closer and grazed his hand against the smooth marble. "I miss you, daddy. Happy father's day." He said softly.

The woman then turned her attention to Steve, grasping his hand before she spoke again. "Tommy, I remember you telling me that if anything were to happen to you, that you wanted me to find a way to move on with my life, to be happy, and you didn't want me to be alone."

She looked at Steve again. "Well, I want you to know that I'm not alone, not in the slightest. I reconnected with my high school sweetheart, Steve. And he's a really amazing man who takes really good care of me and our boys. Of course, it was hard at first. I didn't think I'd be able to open up my heart again after losing you but then Steve came along and I like to think that in a way it was you that gave him that little extra push into becoming a closer part of my life again.

DJ rested her head on Steve's shoulder as she continued. "And with Stephanie and Kimmy living with us, our family had grown so much and I'm surrounded by so much love each and every day I can't even describe it. I just..I needed you to know that, Tommy. I'm not alone."

A brief wave of emotion flashed across Jackson's face from his mother's words before immediately going back to the stoic expression. It was as if, despite the fact that they now had Steve, Jackson still felt this unspoken duty of remaining strong for his mom and little brothers.

After they were finished paying their respects, they were walking back to the car and Max stayed close to Steve, wrapping an arm around him as they walked. The man noticed that the middle Fuller wasn't his usual active, talkative self which was understandable on a day like that.

"So, who's ready for waffles?" asked DJ in an enthusiastic tone, attempting to lighten the mood.

Max slightly perked up at the prospect of waffles. Waffles with the family after church had always been his favorite Sunday tradition. "Me!"

They all packed into the car and headed to their usual spot, Pat's Diner, for Sunday brunch.

The diner was a cozy little locally owned place that DJ had been frequenting for years now. The employees were friendly and the food was a major hit with the entire family.

Steve walked ahead and held the door open for them as they entered the diner. Then, they got settled into their usual booth.

DJ and Steve sat across from each other with Jackson sitting next to DJ, Max sitting with Steve, and Tommy sitting in a high chair at the head of the table.

Their waitress Shyanne came over to the table to greet them. "There's my favorite family! Will we be having the usual?"

"Yes ma'am, we will" DJ replied with a smile. The family went there so often the waitresses had memorized their orders by heart.

Shyanne placed a pot of coffee and two cups to their table as DJ passed around a bottle of hand sanitizer for the family to use.

They chatted amongst themselves while they waited for the food.

"Jackson, we're having family time. Do you mind putting the phone away, please?" DJ scolded.

Jackson rolled his eyes and shoved his phone into his pocket. "Fine. What am I supposed to do then?"

"Talk with us?" DJ suggested. "The other day you were telling me you wanted to try out for wrestling next school year. Steve was on the wrestling team in high school and he'd love to help you train."

Steve nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I'd be happy to."

"Thanks." Jackson replied rather half heartedly.

DJ shook her head, making a mental note to have a talk with her oldest son later.

Shortly after that, their food arrived and they began to eat.

Steve watched as DJ tended to Tommy, giving him his sippy cup filled with apple juice and cutting up his waffles for him.

"What is it?" DJ asked with a shy smile when she caught him staring.

"Oh, nothing. You're just unbelievably beautiful." replied Steve, causing DJ to blush a little.

Somehow after 20+ years, Steve still managed to make DJ feel as if she were the center of his universe, and there was absolutely no doubt in her mind that she was.

After finishing up their meals and leaving a generous tip like they always did, the family headed back home to celebrate the rest of their Father's Day.

—

Later on that day, Steve was in the living room with Max and Jackson when DJ came down the stairs with Tommy. The toddler stood in front of Steve smiling widely as he hid something behind his back.

"Tommy has something he'd like to give to you." DJ informed Steve as the boy held the handmade craft in front of him. The craft consisted of blue construction paper designed with Tommy's own handprints made with paint, a photo of Tommy and Steve taken a few weeks prior at his preschool, and a short Father's Day poem.

"Happy father's day, daddy. I love you" said Tommy as he climbed onto Steve's lap, giving him a hug and kiss.

"I love you too my sweet little boy" said Steve as he hugged Tommy. DJ watched the exchange with pure love and admiration in her heart.

Jackson suddenly got up, mumbling something under his breath, as he raced up the stairs.

"Jackson.." DJ called out to him. He ignored her.

"I'll go talk to him, Deej." said Steve as he got up from the couch. He went upstairs to find Jackson sitting in his room seemingly in deep thought.

"Hey, Jackson. Mind if I come in?" asked Steve.

Jackson shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever I guess."

Steve sat down next to Jackson. So far, their relationship had been the most difficult to build. It seemed as though Jackson had put some sort of wall up that wouldn't allow the closeness Steve now had with the other two boys.

"I think I have an idea of what's going on, but I'm not entirely sure. Is there anything you wanna talk about?" said Steve.

"Not really, I mean, I guess I'm just not entirely stoked on the idea of my dad being replaced." Jackson confessed.

Steve's expression saddened. "Jackson, that's couldn't be further from the truth. I'm not trying to replace your Dad."

Jackson scoffed. "Sure you aren't. Tommy's calling you "daddy" now and he'll never even know his real dad.."

Steve nodded sympathetically. "Look, Jackson, I never knew your dad but from what I've heard he was an amazing guy and I never thought for a second that I could replace him. It's just, well, Tommy's so young and he needs a father figure in his life. And more than anything I want to be that for him. For all three of you boys really. But you know what else he's going to need?"

"What?" Jackson asked, his tension beginning to fade.

Steve placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "He's going to need you, Jackson. You got the most time with your dad out of your brothers and he's going to need you tell him all about the kind of man he was, the amazing father he was."

Jackson nodded slowly, wiping away at his eyes. "Yeah..you're right." Unexpected to Steve, Jackson pulled him in for a quick hug. "Thanks, Steve."

Steve smiled and patted his back. "No problem at all."

"And Steve?" Jackson added as Steve headed out the door.

"Yeah?" said Steve.

"You're an amazing guy too. My mom is lucky to have you. So are me and my brothers." Jackson said with a smile.

Steve smiled back at him before exiting the room.

"How'd it go? Is everything okay?" DJ asked Steve when he came downstairs.

"Yeah, I had a nice talk with him and everything's good now." said Steve.

DJ beamed proudly as she cupped his face in her hands, kissing his lips softly as a silent "thank you"

"Now it's time for your gift from me" said DJ as she handed him a small gift bag.

Inside the bag, Steve pulled out a box containing a men's rose gold watch personalized with his initials, complete with a brown leather band, as well as a $100 gift card to Applebee's. "Wow, Deej, this is amazing. I was just thinking about how I needed another watch! And the gift card to Applebee's..a beautiful touch, I must say. Thank you. You know me so well" Steve mused as he leaned forward, pulling her close and kissing DJ passionately.

Their passionate make-out session was cut rather short by Max and Tommy re-entering the room from playing outside. "Uh, excuse me, but there are children present!" exclaimed Max as he covered Tommy's eyes.

DJ and Steve both chuckled lightly as they pulled apart.

Max sat on Steve's lap while Tommy sat in the middle of the couple. "Can we do Fuller Family movie night now? Pretty please?" Max begged as he put on his best puppy dog pout.

"Pwetty pwease" Tommy echoed, imitating his older brother's puppy face.

"Sure, that sounds good to me. How about you sweetheart?" said Steve, looking over at DJ.

"Sure! Let's go boys" said DJ.

After the boys all showered and settled down, DJ smiled at the sight of Steve, Max, and Tommy all wearing the matching pajamas she had purchased for them.

"Aww, my boys look so adorable!" DJ cooed.

Right as she was pulling back the covers on the bed, Jackson walked in the room and he too was wearing the matching pajamas.

"Aww and there's my oldest boy looking just as adorable!" said DJ giving him a hug.

"Okay chill, mom no need to make this a big deal." Jackson said, blushing slightly.

Everyone climbed into the bed and it was time for movie night to begin. As a disagreement over what movie they'd watch first turned into a pillow fight between Steve and the boys, there were no words to describe the thankfulness she felt on that Father's Day to Steve for filling that empty space in each of their hearts.


End file.
